2010 Ural Patrol T Test Ride

Ural's Patrol T motorcycle sidecar combines back-to-basics design with modern components and a robust two wheel-drive powertrain. Exactly how robust? We piloted the three-wheeler through knee-deep snow to find out.

Seattle— Once a government-issue workhorse of communist Russia, Ural's rugged motorcycle sidecar has evolved from an agricultural appliance to the steed of choice for certain Western recreational thrill seekers. The cult of off-road sidecar riders may be a small niche, but their enthusiasm for traversing seemingly impassable terrain is infectious. Attacking moonscapes like Death Valley, Moab and Copper Canyon, these hearty enthusiasts revel in the simple pleasures of loading up their hacks with ballast, clicking their two wheel-drive into gear, and hopping, rocking and grinding their way through topography that would make a traditional two-wheeler skulk home.

The Specs

The lore of the Ural brand is steeped in enough intrigue to script a political thriller, with allegations including tales of Hitler providing Stalin with sidecar blueprints before World War II, and another of Russians reverse-engineering Urals from BMWs smuggled through Sweden. But beyond the impenetrable history is a 21st-century company that is working hard to reshape its perception in the motorcycle world.

This much is certain: Before the fall of the U.S.S.R., Ural churned out as many as 130,000 motorcycles per year in a Soviet-style factory where vertical integration reigned supreme. Nearly every component was manufactured in-house, from bolts and rubber trim to pistons. But without the Darwinist benefits of capitalism in place, build integrity (and subsequently reliability) went unchecked. The Russian domestic market vaporized following the dissolution of Communism, and a management buyout in 2000 outsourced parts and established lines of communication between consumers and the factory for greater quality control. In its current state, the IMZ-Ural group operates as a U.S. corporation registered in Washington state, acting as the parent company for the factory in Irbit, Russia, where Urals are manufactured.

The transformation from high-volume to boutique manufacturer has merged Ural's rudimentary air-cooled, boxer-style engine with modern components aimed at improving serviceability and reliability. Brembo brakes, Domino grips, Sachs shocks, Herzog gears and Keihin carburetors are just a few of the parts that make up the Patrol T's surprisingly international build sheet. As Ural's Madina Merzhoeva explains, "The bikes from seven years ago are light years away from today's Urals."

Ural's underpinnings are low-spec enough to ensure durability, as evidenced by French traveler Hubert Kriegel, who has spent the last six years traveling the world aboard his Ural, or American adventurer Dave "The Wrecker" Hooker, who helps the manufacturer find weak spots in their design by reporting back when his Gear-Up—nicknamed "Canyon Acrobat" for one maneuver which resulted in a complete inversion—suffers mechanical failures in the field.

The $12,399 Patrol T lacks some of the adventure-oriented amenities found in pricier Urals, such as a spare wheel/tire and accessories like a shovel (which Mr. Hooker advocated after his rig was stuck offroad), but the basics are essentially the same. An air-cooled, overhead valve, 745-cc horizontally opposed twin-cylinder engine produces a humble 40 hp at 5600 rpm and 38 ft-lbs of torque at 4600 rpm. The powerplant can be fired up with either an electric or kick start, and yields between 26 and 33 miles per gallon. A dual-disc dry clutch meets a four-speed transmission with reverse, diverting power to the rear wheel via shaft drive. The sidecar wheel can be driven when the rider pulls a small lever adjacent to the final driveshaft, and the two-wheel-drive system operates directly, without a differential. A leading-link front suspension and rear coilovers feature Sachs shocks, and front brakes utilize full-floating Brembo discs and mechanical drums at the rear wheels.

The 2010 Ural Patrol T includes a two-year parts-and-labor warranty with unlimited mileage.

The Ride

If you've ever ridden modern European or Japanese bikes, throwing a leg over the Ural Patrol T may trigger a rude awakening. Though up-to-date components abound on this Russian ride, rough fit and finish details are signifiers of its Iron Age roots. The boxer-style engine starts up with an innocuous exhaust note and a metallic timbre that has inspired some riders to slap on a cheeky sticker that reads "Loud Valves Save Lives."

Dropping the notchy shifter into first and letting out the clutch reveals an uneventful torque curve, not to mention a tendency for the rig to pull towards the right when the throttle is twisted. The phenomenon is perfectly normal for sidecars—it's a peculiar handling characteristic that enables drama-free left turns, thanks to the added grip of the sidecar tire when it bears additional load. But right turns are potentially hazardous, leading to loss of control—and in extreme cases, a rollover. The right-turn effect is mitigated when a passenger occupies the bench seat (which is covered by a tonneau when not in use). As we learned during our test ride, a sack of river rocks also works as an effective ballast.

With a maximum recommended cruising speed of only 65 miles per hour, the Ural Patrol T is no rocket ship. But the stability offered by its three-wheeled setup inspired confidence when we traveled over 100 miles out of Seattle on Interstate 5 and encountered deteriorating winter weather that sidelined big rigs, forced cars to don snow chains and resulted in near white-out conditions. We didn't miss the tire-spinning horsepower of modern motorcycles when we finally exited the highway at Mount Baker, aiming our Urals through snowdrifts and exploring the limits of low-speed traction.

Hearty German-made Heidenau rubber is available for Urals, and some winter-riding fanatics even equip their rigs with studded snow tires. But our stock, street-rated rubber didn't leave us stranded when we reached for the two-wheel-drive lever that sits to the right of the rear axle. Riding through snow is a strange sensation, one that throws everything you thought you knew about motorcycles out the window; despite our best attempts to insulate against cold, passing directly through the thick, fluffy stuff resulted in moisture entering our boots and soaking our gloves.

Thankfully, the Patrol T remained stoic throughout our hooligan-inspired endeavors; donuts, slides and figure-eights through the snow were accomplished with ease, and only a few times did we need to dismount and push our rides out of exceptionally thick drifts. Though the two-wheel-drive function isn't intended for tarmac, it adds quite a bit of traction when it comes to inclement conditions like snow or dirt; once we abandoned our winter playground for the interstate ride back to civilization, it took a quick flip of the switch to disengage two-wheel drive.

The Bottom Line

The Ural Patrol T's charms lie not only in the obvious areas of its elementally nostalgic design or its head-turning looks, but also in its surprisingly capable offroad abilities. Fans of dual-purpose touring bikes like the BMW R1200GS and Kawasaki KLR 650 may bemoan the inability to lean into turns and the added weight of the sidecar rig, but for riders looking for a fresh way to seek adventure, Ural's Patrol T offers a distinctive and viscerally direct way to tackle the great outdoors.